Monster Energy Cup

The presumed biggest hurdle in Martin Truex Jr.'s way when it comes to getting to the championship race was cleared triumphantly Sunday. Truex finished second at Martinsville Speedway, a track that has not been his strong suit in recent memory. Entering the weekend with an average finish of 20.4 at the half-mile, Truex exorcised his demons by running inside the top 10 all afternoon and coming wit...

Denny Hamlin insisted he did not intentionally get into the back of Chase Elliott while racing for the lead in the final laps at Martinsville Speedway. Going into Turn 3 on Lap 499, Hamlin sent Elliott spinning. Neither driver wound up winning the race to advance into the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And the high stakes were on Hamlin's mind when the incident occurred. "I got in...

The sun went down, the new lights came on, and all hell broke loose at Martinsville Speedway. In a wild overtime finish that took Sundayâs First Data 500 to 505 laps at the .526-mile short track, Kyle Busch beat Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader Martin Truex Jr. to the stripe by .141 seconds to take the checkered flag and earn a spot in the Nov. 19 Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Spe...

Joey Logano has figured out "The Paperclip." With a lap of 96.504 mph, Logano won the pole for today's First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Logano swept all three rounds of qualifying and will start from the top spot for the fourth time in the last six Martinsville races. The pole is also the second of the season for Logano after he was fastest at Phoenix in the spring. It is the 19th of his ...

Joey Logano was fastest in final Monster Energy Series practice at Martinsville Speedway with a lap of 94.416 mph. Playoff drivers Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. were second and third fastest, respectively. Elliott ran a lap of 94.326 mph while Truex clocked in at 94.289 mph. Rounding out the top five were Clint Bowyer (93.901 mph) and Kasey Kahne (93.896 mph). Results Sixth fastest was Jamie...

Andy Petree has a rich history with Richard Childress Racing and knows what the organization is capable of. Which is why Petree, who was announced to an advisor role this week, confidently said Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway the ship will be righted. "This sport goes in cycles. There's going to be down times and there's going to be times when you're up," Petree said outside the RCR h...

Five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin jumped to the top of the leaderboard near the end of Saturday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series opening practice session. Hamlin's fastest lap was 95.415 mph. He was followed by two non-playoff drivers in Kyle Larson (95.299 mph) and Ryan Newman (95.156 mph). Results Completing the top five were Ryan Blaney (95.036 mph) and Kyle Busch (95.003 mph). Brad...

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Saturday the landscape at JR Motorsports squashes any possibility of Marco Andretti getting a stock car. "We've got four teams, and they're all full. So, it's probably not got any life," Earnhardt said in response to a tweet Andretti sent earlier in the week noting that he'd talked to Earnhardt and sister Kelley. "But we are friends, and we've talked about it for two, thre...

An Andretti in NASCAR is not a new thing. And this particular Andretti would mark another generation trying out stock cars â one day. Marco Andretti, the driver of the No. 27 Andretti Autosport entry in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Thursday night, Andretti was looking to pass the time while traveling and asked his Twitter followers to throw out some questions. Here was his response to one: Have sp...

Martin Truex Jr. might be pinching himself over the season he's had, but that doesn't mean the Furniture Row Racing driver is getting too far ahead of himself. With 69 playoff points and seven victories, Truex keeps tearing through the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. As such, it didn't take many long to declare Truex a title favorite. With the Round of 8 beginning this weekend at Martinsville S...

Darrell Wallace Jr. has a job for 2018, but there are still plenty of questions that need answers at Richard Petty Motorsports. Will they still be a Ford team? Where will the team shop be? Are they forming a technical alliance with another organization? Oh, what about sponsors on the No. 43? But the Petty camp isn't the only one still working through Silly Season. With four races left in the 2017...

Richard Petty Motorsports officially announced Darrell Wallace Jr. as the next driver of the No. 43. Wallace will take over in 2018, replacing Aric Almirola. Running a full Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series campaign, the 24-year-old graduate of the NASCAR Diversity program and NASCAR Next will contend for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. "This is a dream come true to race for 'The King', Richard ...

Leavine Family Racing has finalized its driver and crew chief lineup for the 2018 season. Announced Tuesday morning, Travis Mack, who is the current car chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports, will join the organization as the crew chief for incoming driver Kasey Kahne. Kahne was announced as the next driver of the No. 95 Chevrolet last month. Mack, who has been the car chief of the...

Kurt Busch scored his best finish since winning the Daytona 500 and it was the result of his crew chief pushing the right buttons. Those buttons were Busch's. Tony Gibson chided his driver after he qualified 15th at Kansas Speedway and Busch said used it as motivation during the Hollywood Casino 400. "Tony Gibson deserves this second-place finish. He got on me pretty hard Saturday morning after q...

Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Eddie Wood compared Ryan Blaney to one of the team's former drivers after his performance at Kansas Speedway. "That was a David Pearson right there," said Wood. "Ryan knew what he had to do. He raced hard, but he was mindful of what was going on around him. He missed the wrecks. It was just a tremendous effort." Blaney finished third after having to start from last. ...